On Saturday a gunman with anti-Semitic views opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 and wounding 4. In disturbing irony, this happened on the very same day the world observes International Religious Freedom Day.

Today we stand in solidarity with this community and mourn their losses with them. We reject anti-Semitism and neo-Naziism and stand against religiously- or racially-motivated violence of all kinds. We are also deeply distressed by the gunman’s attitude toward Muslims and refugees. We believe that all humans bear God’s image, and we pray that this and other crimes of violence will motivate us all to work together to counter the current level of hatred, fear, white supremacy, and violence in our nation. We applaud this Jewish community’s work and that of HIAS to serve immigrants and to help and welcome refugees from around the world who seek safety in America.

We believe that religious freedom is a basic human and civil right and is the foundation for any just and prosperous society. We also recognize that it takes more than laws to make the world safe for diversity and that daily, individual habits that cultivate civil discourse instead of violence can actually save lives. Here are a few more blogs on why we believe religious freedom is so important and what you can do to make a difference:

If you’ve kept up with recent world news, you may have heard what’s happening to the Uyghur people in China. Most ethnic Uyghurs identify as Muslim, and over one million of them are currently detained in Chinese prison camps just north of Tibet with the stated purpose of “preventing terrorism.” These prison camps resemble those established by oppressive regimes throughout history, and Uyghurs around the world are living with that deep pain.

Knowing this, last weekend a church in Pasadena decided to use their listening skills to love and bring comfort to their Uyghur neighbors. Through the bridge-building efforts of Peace Catalyst staff members Bill and Julie Clark, a Pasadena Foursquare church hosted close to 20 Uyghur adults and children for a Peace Feast.

The room was filled with warmth and somberness as highly-educated Uyghurs with Ph.D.s and graduate degrees filled the room. They shared with us a delicious home-cooked meal of traditional Uyghur lamb and spicy noodle dishes, and Turkish friends attended and brought a friendship dessert called Ashure or Noah’s Pudding.

Erkin is Senior Optical Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab who is bursting with sorrow over the trauma Uyghurs are facing today. He shared tearful stories of how his family, friends, and neighbors in Xinjiang are suffering, and he showed slide after slide of people he knows who have been imprisoned or who have disappeared or even been sentenced to death. He also said that if they returned to their homeland, Uyghurs in the US would immediately be imprisoned, and family members could also be arrested. US officials are calling it a “high tech police state.”

Uyghurs throughout the world and outside of Xinjiang live with the fear that what they do or say can have grave consequences for those back home. Being pictured with them on Facebook or a website, receiving phone calls or emails . . . all pose great risk for Uyghurs living in China.

Uyghurs around the tables also shared about their own trauma. One Uyghur medical doctor attending the church’s listening event told me how he warns his patients of the dangers of stress and the health risks it causes. He realizes that while he shares that, he wonders how he will take his own advice. Haunting images of what his friends are enduring weigh him down and cripple his sleep.

So this little gathering of church members listened, grieved, cried, and prayed for their Uyghur brothers and sisters. Erkin explained how we could help by signing this petition (and this one), and he implored us to write to our political representatives, but it was hard to avoid a sense of heartbreak.

Throughout the Psalms and cries of lament in the Scripture, there are raw, heartfelt prayers and complaints poured out. God is one who listens. So we do well when we listen well to the hurts of others. Perhaps He listens through our own ears.

Peacemaking between Christians and Muslims involves listening and lamenting. These actions have the power to transform everyone involved.

A Peace Catalyst peacemaker for several years, Andy Larsen now uses photography and his experience in the Holy Land to lead peacemaking trips to the region. Find more from Andy at worldlyholiness.com.

This spring, my wife and I spent 12 weeks in Israel/Palestine seeking to listen, learn, and help advocate for a just and lasting peace in the region. Several major events were coming to a head (the US Embassy move, Jerusalem Day, the 70th anniversary of Nakhba, and the Right of Return protests in Gaza), and we observed several protests and other important events as the outside world wondered if the tinder box would explode.

During this time I helped to lead two different tours designed to give participants greater understanding of the complexities of the conflict by facilitating time with people on both sides of the wall. I also guided a class of students from North Park Seminary studying peacemaking in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. These students, as part of their class, participated in the Christ at the Checkpoint conference and toured several conflict zones. We rubbed shoulders with Palestinians, Israeli soldiers, Christians, Muslims, Jews, and other internationals. It was rich and difficult, heart-wrenching and important. This seems, in my opinion, to be the best way to train future pastors and leaders. It might also be the best way for anybody to understand this conflict and what is required to make peace.

One day in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, we were on a focused tour with a group of students and leaders from around the world, and as we tried to enter the Ibrahimi Mosque (also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs) the Israeli guards wouldn’t allow the Palestinians to enter. The soldiers proceeded to search several of the young Palestinian men in our group, lifting their shirts and aggressively asking questions. The soldiers said the rest of us could enter, but we refused to do so on the premise that these were our friends and we weren’t about to abandon them. We did not want to be treated with special privilege just because we weren’t Palestinians.

We all experienced the jarring aspects of this event in different ways. One of my Palestinian friends started to experience severe PTSD and related his story of being apprehended from his home in the dark of night as a 12-year-old child and then held in solitary confinement, fed only bread and water for much of 6 months. He committed no crime but was accused of throwing a stone at a protest. Now at 24, he was experiencing a relapse of this horrible memory, prompted by his encounter with the soldiers. Several of my African-American students gasped as they witnessed this. It resembled what they’ve experienced back in the US, and they identified quickly with our Palestinian friends. Me?I mostly just felt the inconvenience of not being allowed into the building and felt anger as I witnessed the harassment of my friends. It brought back memories of several encounters like this I witnessed while living in Hebron in 2011. I would frequently stand with a young Palestinian for an hour or so at a checkpoint, detained oftentimes simply because a soldier was trying to demonstrate who was in control.

On this particular day, the assignment I required for my students seemed particularly relevant. From a chapter from Reconciling All Things, we learned that, “Lament is not despair. It is not whining. It is a cry of those who see the truth of the world’s deep wounds and the cost of seeking peace. It is the prayer of those who are deeply disturbed by the way things are.” And for my African-American students and Palestinian friends it became apparent that this “discipline of lament” is not an merely an elective for the advanced placement students. For these friends its part of their daily life. To survive and thrive, they must learn the language and discipline of lament.

Jesus-centered peace building work requires an internal disposition and some simple practical steps.

Internally, peace building requires the mindset to first seek to understand others, rather than seeking to be understood (James 1:19), as well as theological humility, which allows us to admit the limitations of our knowledge and understanding. When we recognize and admit the limitations of our own understanding and truly seek to understand others, it honors people and opens up the opportunity to form deep relationships that are mutually transformative. Without a genuine humility that seeks to understand our neighbors, efforts to “build peace” quickly appear to be – and easily become – superficial and duplicitous to people of other faith backgrounds. For that reason, these internal components of humility and curiosity that seeks to understand others deeply are the cornerstone of Jesus-centered peace building.

But peace building is nothing if it’s not practical. Here are a few ways Peace Catalyst International’s staff create spaces for Christians and Muslims to build relationships and work together toward peace in their local communities:

Bringing together people from local mosques and churches by visiting one another’s places of worship allows people to learn about one another’s beliefs, reduce misunderstanding, and overcome fear so that people can begin to form relationships with one another.

Sharing meals at local restaurants or in homes gives Christians and Muslims time to share honest conversation and deepen relationships with one another.

Hosting panel and group discussions with Christians and Muslims interested in learning about one another’s religious views, particularly about challenging subjects, provides a safe space to begin to tackle tougher issues.

Facilitating small groups creates an environment for Christians, Muslims, and others to study one another’s scriptures together, discover common ground, tackle challenging topics and points of difference, and build relationships.

Collaborating together on projects allows Muslims and Christians to serve the community side-by-side.

To sum it up in a phrase: peace building is all about reducing misunderstanding, deepening trust, and building personal relationships so that individuals and congregations of different faiths can collaborate and serve together as a blessing to their community. Oftentimes deepening relationships occur as faith communities serve together, and theological or ethical conversations primarily serve as a means of reducing misunderstanding so that relationships and collaboration can occur.

If you’re interested in meeting Muslims or visiting a local mosque, check out this post for some tips.

If you’re looking for resources or ideas so your small group or church can begin some peace building work in your community, this post is a good place to begin.

It’s difficult to describe a place like Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The entire Balkan region is fascinatingly complex, deeply unsettled, and yet distinctly charming. We’ve fallen in love with the beautiful normalcy of BiH’s ethno-religious diversity, the incredible people who live here, and their wisdom and relentless courage.

We live and work in Sarajevo as representatives of Peace Catalyst. Our work here is to support peacemaking efforts and to include the local Protestant Church into that work to the extent that we, as foreigners, are invited to do so. As our proficiency in the local language increases, that support for peacemakers includes, research, translation work, promoting local peace initiatives, helping to plan and evaluate peace projects and programs, introductory trainings for interfaith peace work, and networking among religious leaders.

One of the organizations we’ve had the privilege to partner with is Small Steps, a local NGO which promotes interethnic and interfaith peace and non-violence at all levels of BiH’s post-war society. Small Steps focuses on heart-to-heart interfaith dialogue as a means to build understanding between ethnic groups. They also do collaborative peace building activities, promotion of non-violent theory and action in religious communities, gender equality, and human rights projects.

The director and founder of Small Steps, Amra Pandžo, is a Muslim Bosniak who lived through the siege of Sarajevo and began doing peace work shortly afterwards. She has over twenty years of experience in reconciliation work in BiH, Kosovo, Ukraine, and with citizens of Afghanistan. She’s written and published several works, including the Manual for the Teachers of Islamic Religion on the Peaceful Dimensions of Islam, which Small Steps utilizes to work with teachers of Islam in schools throughout BiH to promote the inclusion of nonviolent conflict transformation as a core part of religious education.

We’re humbled and delighted to represent Peace Catalyst here in Bosnia & Herzegovina and to see the breakthroughs that come from waging peace in such a conflict-riddled part of our world!